Finally Found My Calling | Post 1

By Elyse Muro

Welcome to my blog about life as a counseling psychology graduate student!

I am 25 years old, and am currently enrolled in my second full year of graduate school. I graduated in December 2009 with my bachelor’s degree in psychology. At that time, I took a year off to really decide what it was I wanted (or didn’t want) to study in grad school, and that’s when I discovered school counseling.

I’m currently employed at a counseling agency and had the opportunity to facilitate a group in the high school that focused on adolescents with drug abuse or addiction and the second group focused on adolescents who were children of addicts. I felt myself really bonding with these kids and I found a true passion. I also came to learn that while I loved my job, I didn’t want to make a career out of sitting in an office listening to people hour after hour. Getting a chance to shadow an acquaintance who works in a middle school as a school counselor confirmed my desire to make this my career.

So here I am! Second full year in graduate school and the light is starting to shine through at the end of the tunnel. My anticipated graduation year is 2014. It seemed further away at the beginning of the year, but as the semesters came to an end, the more it became and continues to be a bitter sweet feeling. I have been in school since pre-school, not including the one year I took off between undergrad and grad school, but even during that year I was still thinking about applying and what I wanted to be when I grew up so it was still always there. When 2014 comes around it’s going to be scary and I feel that I’m going to have to find a new identity; I’ll no longer be a student.

With this blog I want to carry you through my journey of grad school. I’ll share the struggles I’m facing as well as my accomplishments. Juggling can be seen as a craft and I can say that it’s becoming second nature to me. I hope to share some tips and provide encouragement to help others who may be considering entering into the journey of grad school, or who may be current grad students struggling to survive. Here’s my first piece of advice: You can do it!!!

Elyse has a B.S. in psychology from Penn State University. She is currently a second-year graduate student blogging about earning her master's in school counseling degree.

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